Inheritance
by Omega22
Summary: This is our darkest hour. Invaded by unknown forces the Earth struggles to hold back the alien menace. In the midst of the chaos, two brother's: Adam and his younger brother James are on opposite sides of the world, unable to contact one another. How will they survive and what will they inherit from Xcom? (Set in Enemy Within, will eventually head into two)
1. Chapter 1

2012: Two years before the invasion

 _We're not defined by destiny; we're merely shaped by it._

It was a very unique night for James Mathews. Here he was sat in his brother's car driving to who knows where, admittedly Adam didn't so much ask permission; in fact his parents were dead against whatever idea he had in mind. So when Adam snuck into his room saying that there was something important he needed to show him, James hesitated at first, but then after his brother assured him that it would not take too long he figured that it'll be okay.

Then he saw the time was nearing midnight.

"Doin' alright there, kiddo?" Adam asked, his eyes still fixed on the road.

"Yeah." James lied, rubbing his eyes. "Just got something in my eye."

Okay so maybe he was a bit tired, it's way past his bedtime for an eight year old kid. It didn't help that his brother was so old, twenty if you can believe it. According to his dad and Adam, they're related but somehow they have a different mother. As Adam told him simply, its complicated, and when Dad tries to explain that he's British and Adam's American, sometimes it's easier just to nod and pretend to understand even when you have absolutely no clue what they're talking about.

But that's why these visits were important, every year at the start of summer break they come here to the USA so James and Adam could bond. Sometimes it didn't go all according to plan, not with Adam being involved with the American army, on those circumstances they had to resort to online chats but it didn't always have the best reception. Plus there was a time difference, something James has gotten used to by now, if only he was big enough to ignore jet lag.

Adam snorted shaking his head in disbelief. "Not to worry little man, we're almost there."

James opened his mouth but quickly stopped himself before he could reply. Almost, he almost let it get to him. He told himself a year ago that he'll stop being wound up about his height, it was far too easy to just pout and say that he's not little. His brother probably already knew that and just kept poking around for some fun, or as his dad says that he was likely teasing him while he still could. Hopefully that meant he could grow taller than Adam one day, then he'll throw his words right back at him.

Covering his mouth, James hid his yawn. Surely being eight meant that you could stay up longer. "Where are we going?"

Adam smirked. "Somewhere out of the way, so we don't have to deal with the rules." He added with a cheeky look.

This was a little out of the ordinary, but not unusual as far was James was concerned. One of Adam's excuses for taking a camping day with him was to get away from the rules, which was code for staying out of trouble. It was exactly the same rules as being on the playground, you don't snitch unless things are really bad. But nothing they did was truly bad, learning how to use a pocket knife to carve wood wasn't too bad, now managing to cut your thumb open was another story. Adam stitched it back up in a minute and took the blame, though mum and dad were angry they didn't truly lay into him as James expected, so he must have done something right. And James didn't cut any part of his body after, lately anyway...

His eyes drifted towards the stars, out in the open road he could see them much clearer than he could in London. Too many streetlights on and way too many buildings... They sparkled brighter here, almost like they were dancing in the moonlight. He heard of the moon landing at school and he sometimes wondered what it was like to be up there, they say there's no life up there that we know of. And the only 'aliens' that he saw was on television and he was far too old to believe those daft shows.

He let out a short cry as he bounced up and down, it took a snap second for him to realise they weren't driving on the road anymore and on the rocky terrain. Thankfully it was a big open road; no signs of anyone for what he could only assume were miles. Although it was tempting to ask what he was doing, he trusted that his brother had a reason; at least he hoped it was a good reason.

Finally after a few moments they stopped, James heard the car screech to a halt against the rocks. He jerked forward by the momentum, the belt pressing into his skin, preventing him from going through the windscreen. Pushed back by the momentum, James gave his brother a glare.

"You dick, you did that on purpose."

Adam chuckled. "But you're not feeling tired anymore." He pointed forwards at the windscreen. "We're here."

Turning towards the windscreen James saw what appeared to be an old abandoned shack, there was a sign attached to a picket fence with string, but the time had worn it out; most of the writing was illegible and near erased. The shack itself had seen better days, even in the dark James could make out that it was a health risk, it might even fall on someone if they tried to open the door.

A firm pat on the hood of the car stirred James from his thoughts. He wasn't normally this distracted, maybe he wasn't quite ready to stay up over night as he thought. Clicking off his seat belt he joined his brother at the back, the boot was already open Adam was holding a carrier bag out for him.

"Line these cans up on the fence." He asked casually.

James shrugged and took the bag, his eyes rolling after he got out of eye shot. He reached into the bag when he was close to the fence, one of the cans was a generic cola can, already opened with nothing inside not even a drop when he shook it. Obeying Adam's request the started to stack the cans, using the pointed edges in the opening to keep them stable, if the wind blew hard enough it might have knocked it down. Thankfully, the breeze was light enough to only shift his brown hair slightly.

"Alright, I'm done." He called just as Adam slammed the boot down.

His brother approached holding something solid in his hands, and then he paused holding up an index finger as he back stepped towards the car and flicked on the headlights. James grunted shielding his eyes as the beams of light temporally blinded him. Different colours flashed around for a moment, until it eventually settled.

"Sorry about that. I promise I'll make it up to you tomorrow." Before James could say a word, he saw the outstretched hand with a pistol. "Go on, it won't bite."

James froze already his head was swimming with past lectures told by his parents about touching guns. It was strictly forbidden, they would take away his free time, ground him for a year and likely keep him off both the computer and television. He looked at Adam, the friendly smile assured him that he wouldn't be telling on him, but it didn't necessarily make it right.

"I'm not allowed to touch guns." He said, trying to add some confidence in his voice that didn't make him sound like a coward.

Adam snorted slightly amused; he twisted the pistol a little so James could see it better. "Like I'd ever give you live rounds. These are BB guns, not quite the same as the real thing."

James hesitated; it now made sense why his brother chose to do this now. He wasn't sure if BB's counted to his parent's rules, I mean it looked very realistic as far as he could tell, and technically he was allowed to touch water pistols when he was five. Reluctantly he took the pistol, trying to get a feel for it; it felt smoother than the plastic water pistols at least.

Another hand stretched out to him, this one had glasses. James shot him a bizarre look, he only needed them for reading what good would they do here?

"Safety first." Adam encouraged.

There was no telling if he was joking or not, still James did what he was told and slipped them on. Immediately he saw the difference, the lenses were thicker than his traditional glasses and chances are it wouldn't do anything to the words.

"Okay, what now?"

Adam pointed an index finger towards the cans he lined up. "Take a shot at one of them. Let's see what we're dealing with."

Despite raising an eyebrow, Adam just nodded at James' concerns. He had that face on again, the one when he's assessing your every move. It made him look like a stern teacher, kinda like Mister Roberts when he thought about it.

Raising the pistol he aimed at the far left cola can, immediately he heard the criticism from his brother. "Ah ah ah." He chastised, taking a knee towards James. "Use both of your hands, James. And don't forget about the sights."

"I'm not that dumb." James retorted instinctively. He remembered the important lesson of using them with his water pistol, it's essentially the same. Though he wasn't entirely sure why he had to use two hands.

Slowly he wrapped the other hand around the grip, as he closed an eye to use the sights. As he centered the scope over the target, an image came to mind of his parents scolding him. Suddenly, new thoughts rushed to his head, wondering if this was as dangerous as Adam was making out, questioning the glasses... his hands trembled knocking the target out of his sights and his finger unwilling to reach the trigger.

Adam leaned in closer, both his hands overlapped James' own to steady the pistol but he barely added any grip, giving James complete control over his target. "Take a breath, James."

James took his advice; he had to close his eyes for a second to get those mental images out of his head.

"Remember, they're just cans." Adam whispers knowingly. "Clear your head; open your eyes and kick it in the butt."

Exhaling James had no idea that he'd been holding his breath for so long, positioning the pistol back at the can he pressed hard on the trigger. He heard a faint pop and a noise that sounded like a ding, the can dropped to the ground. For some odd reason James felt his heart racing, his brother eased his hands from the pistol and nodded thoughtfully.

"Nice shot. Keep this up and you might be a trooper someday."

James wasn't sure what he meant by that, but decided it was better not to ask. "Was this the important thing you wanted to show me?"

"I may have exaggerated the importance." He admitted through a sly smile.

James sighed, he should've seen this coming the second Adam gave him the cans to line up. He slipped off the glasses and frowned. "Then can we go now?"

Adam crossed his arms staring at the remaining four cans still standing. "If you can knock 'em down without having to reload, we can."

This brought back memories. James could recall his brother's conditions all through his childhood. Adam always gave him that little extra push, though he supposed it was probably the one thing that he could cope with. His parents couldn't really spend so much time with him, and unlike Adam they were willing to allow him to give up on things that were too hard. It was mostly because they were so tired when they returned home, James didn't know what they did but it took up a lot of time, most weekends his grandparents had to watch over him.

"Promise?"

With an index finger Adam made a makeshift X over his heart. "Cross my heart and hope to die."

James smiled, his brother usually kept his promises and his other hand wasn't behind his back either so he didn't have to fear fingers being crossed, being burnt by others in the playground was a good reminder. Lining up a shot, he realised that his hands weren't trembling as hard as before, it felt easier this time and right as he was about to take a shot...

"So, Dad tells me you're being bullied..." Adam muttered.

He winced just as he pulled the trigger, it was just enough to knock his shot off course it hit the side spinning the can in place. Sadly, it somehow managed to recover.

"I..." James voice trailed as he looked at his brother, Adam had a look that could stare into your soul, plus there was that stink eye that warned you not to tell fibs. Immediately his defences crumbled, not much he could do when Dad already told the truth. "Nick's being a twat." He confessed.

Adam raised an eyebrow in confusion. "A what?"

It dawned on James that he just said a bad word, he didn't know what it meant but the school didn't like the word. His only saving grace was that Adam never heard it before. "A dick," he explained. "I opened my mouth at him and he's been at me ever since."

He quickly turned his attention back to the cans, taking another shot he struck one off the fence. This wasn't something he wanted to talk about, he could handle it, stealing his pens and pencils weren't that big of a deal, at least he wasn't able to steal his lunch anymore. James didn't give Nick the satisfaction of seeing any tears, he was stronger than that.

At the corner of his eyes he could see Adam looking at him, it was so difficult to ignore him. "What was he doing?"

"Picking on Nathan, flicking him on the back of head, calling him names." His eyes darkened, just the thought pissed him off. "I told him to knock it off, so he decided to pick on me instead."

"I know you've told the teacher, so I won't bother asking that question. And I know it hasn't necessarily stopped either."

James kept his face as stern as possible, no he wouldn't be breaking down here. Not in front of Adam. "They can't see everything. I lose things, one time my glasses got broke by 'accident'." he added drily. He shook his head, taking down yet another can. "But I haven't cried yet, I'm not going to broke down by him."

A firm hand touched his shoulder, it was caring and the look in Adam's eyes showed that he sympathised not like the teachers who didn't do anything. "I know, kiddo."

He could feel it on the edge of his eyes, he lowered the gun and pulled the glasses off his head. Before he knew it the dam broke before him and the tears were seeping through his eyes. The only thing that stopped him from crying properly was his sleeve. "I... I just don't know what to do about it. I feel so trapped that I don't want to go to school anymore. Why do I have to put up with this?"

Before he knew it, he was pulled into a hug. There was no point resisting, not that he wanted to, it went on for a few moments until Adam finally allowed him to pull away. James sniffed, wiping away the last tear, this was so embarrassing he probably wouldn't hear the last of it.

"Did I do the right thing?" He found himself asking out loud.

Adam nodded. "Of course you did, kiddo. You stuck up and did the right thing."

"But what good is it if I get punished for it?"

Pursing his lips, Adam looked at James directly trying to compose an answer. It was hard to tell if he was trying to make it up on the spot. "Bullies don't like it when they're told not to do something. Sometimes it'll result in them making you the prime target for speaking out. And I know it's hard, but the one thing you have to remember is that you can't fight back with force."

James scoffed at that answer. "At least it'll make him stop."

"Or it may encourage him to try harder." Adam countered. "It might not be you, but he'll bully someone else even harder because of your actions."

Okay, he didn't even consider that answer. That just made the school feel even tighter. "Then what should I do?"

"You keep your cool, and most importantly you don't give in. The hardest part you're gonna have to do is ignore the stupid stuff. But when he crosses the line, you keep telling the teachers over and over." Before James could retort, Adam held up a finger his face confident. "They key thing about bullies is that they love attention, but when a position of power gets involved they fold like a paper bag. Eventually, he's gonna do something incredibly stupid that'll be his undoing." He patted James head reassuringly. "Trust me, kiddo. People like him only end up screwing up."

James considered it, he wasn't exactly sure that this was going to work but at least Adam was giving him the confidence to give it a try. "Alright, I've got this."

"Good man. Why don't you finish up here and we'll head home?"

It was hard to keep a straight face as he focused on the cans. Although his hands were steadier and his aim true, there was a wide grin he hadn't felt for the longest time. It was hard to believe he was actually happy again, hard to believe that the future could be clearer. Yeah, Adam was right... bullies always end up being their worst enemy.

* * *

The last day was always difficult. Adam sometimes questioned why their dad never considered moving here before James was born. Admittedly, in his youth he always resented him for it; it's why he moved into his mom's grandparents rather than go to England. Back then, he saw it as a betrayal. His mom died; so his father decided to forsake her memory by choosing a new one? It felt like he spat on her gravestone.

Looking at it now, he understood his reasoning's. It wasn't because of the massive payout from the Marine's Corps life insurance. Truth of the matter is once she died their father just wanted an excuse to get away. Upon reflection, he was miserable, not once did he pay attention to Adam's grades or how he was doing in general. Dad just slipped into a deep depression, it wasn't a self destructive one where he drank to ease the pain; instead it was almost a longing to join her.

James' mom was probably the best thing that ever happened to him, though it's clear that their dad hadn't quite recovered. He often stayed close to his wife while he was over here.

Dressed in his Marine uniform, Adam escorted both his parents and brother into the airport. As predictable as ever, it was a busy time, so many people bustling in and out of the country. Officially, he's here to keep an eye on James to stop his kid brother from getting lost, James wasn't the wandering type but you can never trust some people. There was another reason... One he figured might give James the confidence to stay strong, even if his older brother was such a stretch away.

James groaned. "Can't we stay a bit longer?"

Adam suppressed a grin, three weeks was never quite enough for him. "No can do kiddo." He answered for his parents, since James' mom was so fixated on getting in customs her insistent urging made it impossible for their father to hear. "You can't overstay your welcome in countries; they tend to frown on that sort of thing."

There was disappointment in James' face; however, it sounded like he understood. "I guess you're right."

He didn't appear eager in returning, probably because in just another week he'll be off from summer holiday and back with Nick in school. It didn't take a genius to figure out that it was on his mind, his hand clenched every so often; a nervous reaction his kid brother didn't realise.

In just an hour they managed to get to the front of the line to check in their luggage, Dad and James' Mom moved to the counter with their bags in tow. James shadowed them, it was clear his interest had dropped to zero with that sullen look on him. Seeing his opportunity, Adam patted him on the shoulder, and then motioned for him to follow. Though his kid brother was clueless, it was clear that he thought anything was better than that and stayed by his side.

Staying just within eye sight of his parents Adam took a knee and forced a smile. "Well, kiddo. I hope you remember what we talked about."

It took James a second longer than Adam would've thought, but he nodded smirking in understanding. "Bullies are their worst enemy."

"That's right." Adam cheered ruffling his brother's brown hair he saw a few looks some people gave him. They probably all thought that he was the father, all because he liked messing around with him.

His brother scowled, slapping his hand in a vain attempt to get him to stop. "Knock it off." He protested.

If it wasn't for the massive age gap, Adam may have insisted that James should try but based on previous experiences he looked like a teenager tormenting a kid. Retreating his hand, Adam chuckled as James straightened his hair muttering under his breath about him no doubt.

"I've got something for ya. It might take the edge off." Adam told him.

Unlike most kids, James was bright enough to be skeptical about it. It was difficult not to laugh; the look he gave made it clear he wasn't in the mood for jokes. Somehow Adam managed it clearing his throat he reached for the string around his neck and slipped it off. He dangled the string in front of him, showing the bullet casing at the end, specially a sniper rifle's shell casing.

It took James a second for his face to be surprised, and a split second to be concerned. "No, I can't take this."

Adam pushed it towards his brother's chest. "You can and will."

"But that belongs to your..." James' voice trailed off, unwilling to finish the sentence.

Adam thought that he'd prepared himself for this moment, but even the unfinished sentence was a punch to the gut. Taking a breath, he found his center and continued. "Let me tell you a quick story about my mom." He started.

"She would have adored you like she was her own. This bullet belonged to her father, who in turn passed it on to her when she went into the Marine corp."

"She..." Adam hesitated, already he could hear the doubts in his head telling him what a stupid idea it was to give away the only part of his mom that he had left. It's just as his sergeant told him, sometimes the hardest battles are the ones inside your head and this was just one of them. "She gave this to me right before her tour, and now I'm passing it over to you champ."

He could recall that moment so accurately he could paint a picture. His mom had a rucksack packed with all her clothes and gear inside, including a few nick-nacks it was early morning, and she was just about to head out. Of course, Adam wasn't ashamed to admit that he was crying, begging her not to go, using every trick he could just to change her mind. It never worked, and despite all that not once did she punish him.

Just like he did for James, she removed the bullet casing over her neck and set it into his hand. "Adam, I need you to be a strong boy and keep hold of this for me. Be brave, your mom has to go away for a while to fight the bad guys." She ruffled his hair then kissed his cheek. "And whatever you do, don't lose it. I'll come back for the two of you, don't you worry."

Unfortunately, that never happened. Her garrison got ambushed while we she out on patrol in Afghanistan. Some of her squad managed to get out, but she offered her own life to keep the terrorists at bay. During the funeral Adam could hear the accounts of those soldiers, they called her a hero and a damned good badass at that, though his dad just nodded solemnly still grief stricken, nothing they were saying was reaching him. But Adam heard every word, so he decided it was time to grow up, stop crying, make his mom proud by sticking up for people and honestly, it drove him to enlist in the Corp like she did.

James was still reluctant despite instinctively looking away he forced himself to look Adam back in the eyes. "It would have been easier if you gave me something else. Do I really have to take it?"

Adam forced a smile. "Don't make me pull the dad card." He said drily.

With a deflated sigh James accepted it. Immediately he put the string around his neck, he pulled the empty shell closer to his eyes and frowned. "I doubt school would like seeing this." He murmured.

Adam patted his shoulder reassuringly. England may not be too fond of having guns, but empty shells shouldn't be too much of a problem. Thankfully James was smart enough to slip it under his t-shirt. "Then just wear it when you get out. Keep it safe till then; I trust you to keep an eye on it."

James nodded, before he could say a word he could hear the call of his mom and dad calling him. Yep, just as Adam suspected this was where they said goodbye. "Looks like we just ran out of time." He held out an open palm for his brother. "Gimmie five."

James rolled his eyes, probably thought he was a bit old for it. Regardless he slapped Adam's hand. "I promise I'll look after it. Hopefully I'll seeya again next year."

"I look forward to it."

Another call from his mom, James quickly retreated to their side. Adam stood and waved his father goodbye who returned the gesture with his new wife. One more year and he'll be able to have a nice cold beer with his dad, it probably wasn't a good idea to mention that he had already drank one a year ago. Losing sight of them in the crowd, Adam turned and headed towards the exit. Another day of life in the corps was waiting for him, just another average day in his opinion; he wondered how long this repetitive streak would last.


	2. Chapter 2

_Author's Notes: Hmmm this should have been uploaded sooner._

 _Warning: This is when things really start to get dark._

* * *

 _These are our darkest days. When nightmares becomes reality and the only thing that awaits you is the unknown._

Year: 2014. Early months of the Alien invasion.

If Adam could say one thing about San Francisco nowadays, it would be that it looks like it came from a movie set of a zombie movie. The whole town looked like an abandoned war site, vehicles were either destroyed, gathering dust or reduced to rubble. Buildings with broken windows from what might be looters or those damn aliens that invaded their world.

Although Adam and his squad had yet to see a corpse, there was enough evidence to suggest that more than a handful perished here. It was probably the whole team who scoured here first, they must have collected the bodies so that they could be laid to rest. The alternative sent a shiver down his spine, he didn't know what these alien bastards would want with a corpse but frankly he wouldn't want to know.

Problem was, this wasn't limited to just San Francisco it was going on all over the world. The aliens didn't care whether or not we hated each other, they all targeted everyone without discrimination: France, Germany, North and South Korea, Iraq, Russia, United Kingdom... as far as they were concerned every country was a viable target.

Thankfully, world leaders didn't take this time to take shots at one another. In a surprising move they announced a united front to take down the invaders. Adam could hardly believe it, and truthfully there was a part of his mind that didn't believe it. That part wondered what will come after the aftermath. Will things return to the usual hate for being born in another country? Or maybe they will bicker trying to decide which was instrumental in killing the aliens?

"Earth to Adam, come in Adam." One of his squad teased.

Adam snorted he didn't even have to turn to see it was one of Patrick Swan's jibes. "I'm right here, Swan." He said smirking.

"Head in the clouds again?" Gemma Holt asked. "Please tell me you spotted a UFO heading back to Mars."

"Nope. But I did see one plummeting into the pacific," He replied playfully. "I'm praying that means they've given up and decided to end it all."

Their Sergeant snorted. "Then they should've thought twice before attacking us on US soil."

All four of them cheered in agreement, though Adam wished that were true. In reality, the Marine Corp was getting its ass kicked. Everyone knew that these things had better weapons then theirs, apparently the alien weapons can melt the armour off a tank with a few placed shots. It wouldn't be so bad, if they could actually collect some of these weapons, but to this date not a single person has been able to obtain one. They've may have killed a few of those gray creatures everyone has been talking about; but in terms of weapon power they outclass humanity. And let's not talk about their UFO's, based on their increasing attacks it seemed Earth's aircraft's can only piss them off.

Alongside him was Sergeant Milner, a dark skinned man from the Bronx, he was in his thirties and judging by the scar on his cheeks had seen a lot of combat.

The trickster of the group was Patrick Swan, Adam didn't know where he came from but he had a southern accent. Stories claim that Patrick's method of helping people is giving them a few tricks to laugh about; but in just the two months that he knew Swan those tricks have yet to materialise, at least the dry humour and the jokes stuck around.

Hanging two steps behind them was Gemma Holt, the squad's sniper. A few wonder how a person with glasses could become a sniper, Gemma would usually tell them that they worked like a magnifying glass. Her face was usually so straight it was hard to tell when she was messing with you.

Finally in front with a permanent scowl on her face was Heidi Scott. She'd been mostly quiet since they came here, an odd comment here and there, with the odd promise for revenge. Though honestly, she had that right, this was the town she was born and raised in and this was a homecoming no one should experience.

As they came closer to the coast another horrible sight awaited them, Adam couldn't manage a single word when they saw it. San Francisco's golden gate bridge a shell of its former self, the middle missing or disintegrated though he had a scope on his assault rifle Adam had a feeling it was the latter.

"Those fuckers!" Heidi roared.

"Settle down, Scott." Milner told her. "We need you to keep your cool, not go off the deep end."

Heidi's face twisted with conflict, unable to control her frustration. "But this is such bullshit, Sarge! When the hell are we going to start fighting back? We keep hearing of attacks: Italy, Africa, Germany and London..."

Adam had to force himself to ignore her rant, immediately his thoughts raced to James and his dad there an image came to mind of them being gunned down by these aliens or taken away to be examined. It took an effort to shake that thought away, thankfully that wasn't the case, it's as his dad says London is huge; the attack was only limited to the capital area still a fair bit away from James' location. But what his head reminded him was that he never checked the casualty list, and Adam wasn't sure it was the best action to check.

If he saw any of his family members in there, there would be a reckoning like no tomorrow.

A nudge from a rifle got his attention; Gemma came around from behind shaking her head. "So what's your opinion, Sinclair? Tentacles or hands?"

Sinclair was his mother's maiden name, a reminder so that she wouldn't be forgotten. Adam stared at her incredulously. "Errr... what?"

Patrick scoffed. "This is the most vital question in your entire life, Adam." He followed up, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "We're betting whether or not they've got digits or tentacles."

"As you can imagine tentacles is Patrick's wishful thinking." Gemma muttered but loud enough to go over Heidi's rant.

"Hey, don't judge." He snapped defensively.

Adam pinched the bridge of his nose, he didn't want to know what they meant by that or why Patrick had a thing for tentacles. "For my sanity's sake I'm going with hands." _But if tentacles come after me, I'm shooting myself in the face._ He thought, keeping that bit of information to himself.

"That's forty bucks you'll be losing, Patrick. You sure you don't wanna pul- I mean, retreat now?" Gemma quickly corrected.

Predictably Patrick snickered when she doubled back on her question. "You almost tripped up there."

"Just answer the question." She insisted.

Patrick clicked his tongue in mid thought with a mischievous smile. "Not a chance, I'm in it to win it. Seeing the look on your faces will be priceless if I'm right."

"Haven't you been on a losing streak already?" Adam pointed out.

"Look busy," Gemma whispered just as Patrick could open his mouth. "The drama's over."

The trio were in sync doing their damnest to pretend to be scouting, as Milner turned towards them Adam spotted the resignation in Heidi's face, whatever their sergeant said must have resonated with her.

With a raised eyebrow Milner asked. "What's this about tentacles?"

Patrick's poker face folded quicker than a newbie at the card table, his child like smile practically gave it away. "Just a friendly wager, Sarge."

"Uh-huh." Milner said drily. "Keep dreaming, my money's on hands."

"Ditto." Heidi agreed.

Patrick winced, sensing the last of his cash swimming out of his wallet. "What is with everyone and their lack of imagination?"

A loud bang caught their attention Gemma raised her sniper rifle into a combat position. "Contact!" She yelled, more out of instinct than anything else.

Adam raised his rifle as he started to scan around for any movement. Gemma had her eyes forwards, Sergeant to the west, both Heidi and Patrick to their flanks. Ordinarily, Adam would be looking east, but since that lead directly towards the sea he opted to assist his sergeant. With that scope Gemma would easily find anyone in front of her or coming towards them from a distance.

Taking a breath Adam could feel his heart racing, the air around him felt thick and sparse like a battlefield. He knew everyone was feeling the tension, but mixed in with that fear was also a silent reassurance that they had each other's back. No one had to utter a word it went without saying in the Marine Corp.

Finally there was movement, a door swung open and slammed against the brick wall. Adam didn't hesitate. "I've got movement." He declared. His squad quickly adjusted their aim to his position.

Slowly three men strode out of the building, they had short black hair combed back, black windsor sunglasses covered their eyes, they wore blue suits with a white shirt underneath and a ruby tie around their neck. Strangely, they were so thin one might assume they've anorexic to the point of being a risk to their health. However, the one thing that caught Adam off guard was that they all looked identical to one another, right down to the smallest detail.

"Maybe they're triplets?" Heidi mused to herself, her face twisted in confusion.

The lead thin man smirked, and Adam's eyes caught the glimpse of what looked like a gun.

"Gun!" Someone yelled, Adam couldn't tell if it was himself, the Sarge or everyone in unison.

It took only a microsecond for the thin man to tick one of the boxes for the use of force, that gun of his was being raised to fire and the sinister intent was clear by the man's face. Adam didn't hesitate he squeezed his trigger, the shot struck true hitting his target on in the chest. The thin man's body collapsed to the floor and a thick green cloud erupted from his body concealing the others.

"What the fuck?" Milner muttered.

Suddenly Adam saw something bright emerge from the cloud, a lime green that shone brighter than the cloud shot towards him. He twisted his head just in time for it to harmlessly pass by, it impacted a safety rail and took a chunk out of it, there was just enough time to see the metal dripping from the heat of the shot.

"Scatter!" Milner ordered, shooting into the cloud with his combat shotgun for cover as he retreated towards a tree.

There was little time for Adam to assess the area, his instincts told him to seek that low wall and wait for a clear shot. Patrick and Heidi found cover with a bench and another tree respectfully, not a lot of options were available to them for anything else. Gemma wasn't so lucky, a figure leapt out of the smoke and tackled her down before she could retreat, her sniper rifle danced out of arms reach.

Surprisingly, it was one of the thin man, a hiss escaped his lips as he met her eyes. Gemma didn't blink, her reflexes were so fast that she reached for her knife attached to her belt and plunged it into the man's neck. Between the gasps, the thin man's body rattled back and forth before it sprayed more of that green smoke into Gemma's face. She retched at first before heavy coughs took over, Adam could barely see her anymore but the coughs assured him that she was still alive.

"Gemma's down. I'm going in after her." Heidi cried, beginning her sprint. "Cover-"

The sound of gunfire interrupted her sentence, but what terrified Adam was that it didn't sound like one of these men's guns. It sounded exactly like a tactical shotgun, it caught Heidi directly at her spine, there was a slight gasp before her body dropped to the floor, at such close range the bullets penetrated the bullet proof vest like butter, a pool of blood began to surround Heidi's body... her body twitched for a moment, then her muscles eased, becoming still as a statue.

As Adam's eyes turned to his sergeant he noticed an unusual change about him, his eyes went directly into his skull, the white within his eyes glowed. Bizarrely his face was blank, devoid of emotion, almost as if he didn't care at all. His gun slowly spun around to an unsuspecting Patrick.

"Patrick, the Sarge has gone AWOL! Move!" He warned at the top of his voice.

His friend caught a glimpse of the Sergeant before he swore and hunkered down. The shot from his sergeant failed to connect, splitting the wood of Patrick's cover.

"Adam, behind you!" A hoarse voice called out.

With a swift motion Adam spun around using his rifle as shield, it knocked the thin man's weapon from out of his hand before he could pull the trigger. The thin man glared about to pounce, but was just a fraction of a second too late for Adam's boot, when it fell to the ground Adam unloaded some lead into its chest.

Immediately he regretted that decision as the thin man's body exploded into thick green smoke. Adam coughed, before collapsing onto a knee, he could feel this smoke burning him from the inside out, his senses were all over the place, and the world seemed to spin around him like a washing machine.

The coughs became more heavy and violent; he covered one hand over his mouth and found blood. He felt like he was dying, the only way he could explain this experience was that his lungs were being drowned from the inside.

Time was either going faster or slower, there was so much weight pressing down on Adam's head that it was hard to think. Someone called his name again, when Adam looked up he saw that the cloud had dissipated and a new sight had taken its place, the barrel of a combat shotgun.

Adam couldn't react; his head was so heavy that he didn't know what to do. A part of him accepted this outcome, it preferred a swift death to this suffering his body is experiencing right now. The Sergeant's finger prepared to squeeze, until without warning Milner gasped as light returned into his eyes. Confusion transformed into horror, as the Sergeant quickly realised what he was doing.

His mouth opened to what seemed like an apology, but a shot through his skull prevented him from continuing. Adam could feel vomit racing to his throat as the man he served with dropped to the floor; he couldn't tell if it was this cloud's doing or the horror for witnessing a man die like that. The corner of his eyes caught the shooter, it was Patrick Swan and he had no idea that he'd just killed an innocent man.

The world spun even faster to the point where Adam was on all fours praying for mercy, everything ached, he was coughing more blood... It looked like this was it for him.

A loud yell cried out from Patrick and several others. More people entered, these ones dressed in strange combat gear, blue overalls and a strange armour padding Adam hadn't seen before. The panic from Patrick rang in Adam's ears as he took a shot that bounced off the armour, the woman retorted with a bash of her rifle knocking him out.

Voices meshed all at once, Adam couldn't tell whose voice belonged to who as one of those silver armoured soldiers approached him. The blonde woman took out a red device, and pressed it onto his neck.

"You're going to be fine." She assured him, and then pressed the trigger.

All at once Adam felt a new sensation enter his body, any strength he had left faded and he collapsed onto the hard floor. The darkest pulled at his eyes and he saw no need to resist it, he wanted it to end... let this damn day be over with already.

* * *

Dark clouds engulfed all of London, the clouds were so thick you couldn't see the sun and if it wasn't the beginning of the new day James imagined that the street lights would be on to help others guide their way. Watching as the rain dropped from the sky a thought occurred to him that no kid his age should be thinking. _I wish I could go to school._

Things were getting better before the aliens arrived, he'd sorted out his problem with Nick, as Adam said bully's mess up and insulting a dead pet was his downfall. Strangely, it wasn't James who was picked on, it was some new kid with a strange accent he'd never heard before. After two weeks away from school Nick came back relatively quiet, he still lashed out like a twat on occasion but other than shouting he appeared pretty subdued.

But just as James was getting to the swing of things, these aliens came around and invaded their planet. Admittedly, things weren't too bad, nothing happened around London for it to make an impact on James' life. Until the UFO's started bombing Westminster... then everything started to go to hell.

They may have been out of the UFO's path, but they could still feel the shockwaves in the ground and the sound of explosions still managed to seep their way here. From then on, Mum and Dad told him that there were new rules in place by the Prime Minister... One of them he thought was good (Until now.): School's were now closed until the alien crisis is over, a curfew was now in effect no one could go out beyond Nine P.M... James thought it was odd until he saw the soldiers with guns on patrol, that's when the cold reality hit him that things were serious.

Since the attack he'd noticed some changes outside, there wasn't many kids like him outside anymore. Park's had essentially been closed shut with a padlock, nearly every day you could hear police cars racing down with their sirens blaring, and the soldiers that were controlling the curfew had started to make appearances in the day.

This didn't feel like the town he grew up in anymore, things were different, he wouldn't say that he was scared... openly anyway... but there was also a sense that this was just the beginning. It kept him up at night, gave him nightmares that he could never remember, he wanted to leave this place while they still could.

Except that was another impossibility, when he suggested that they stay with Adam his parents explained that they couldn't, since the UFO attacks all planes were grounded and ships have been forced to remain docked.

At the time he forced a smile tried to pretend it wasn't a big deal, but in actuality James started to feel the same things he did back at school. They were trapped like mice and unlike before; home didn't feel like a sanctuary anymore.

He rubbed his eyes, some nights he found it too difficult to sleep, it was the nightmares fault. Sometimes they really scared him, if he knew why they were so scary maybe he could talk to his mum and dad about it. But they told him that he needed to be brave for a while, and personally he was way too old to be jumping into their bed.

His alarm clock beeped for a second before he slammed his hand on the snooze button, it was starting to become routine for him he's always up before the clock. With a heavy sigh he forced himself to the bathroom, he washed up, brushed his teeth and finally got changed into some clothes in his room. It didn't really matter what he wore most of the time, he couldn't leave the house without a supervising adult and unfortunately, both mum and dad still had to work.

With heavy steps he descended down the stairs and entered the living room, the sounds of the television welcomed him as a news cast began to talk about the ongoing weather. James frowned, if he'd come down sooner he might have got a chance to see if anything new was going on with the aliens.

"Good morning, sunshine." His mum welcomed him. She had long brunette hair, her smile plastered and forced, but it was hard to bring that up. Deep down James knew it was all an act to keep him confident. Unfortunately her green eyes let her down, they were always so resigned, so powerless... James couldn't bear to disappoint her in these darkest moments, because it only took a little crack for the ice to break.

"Hey Mum." He answered, heading to join her and dad in the kitchen.

Dad's smile met him as he stood from the table. Unlike his mum there was a lot more effort to conceal the strains. "Aren't you tempted to have a lie in, son?" He asked playfully.

The thought of sleep made him yawn he mentally cursed his body for betraying him so early. "I'll manage."

He made his way towards the table and took a seat; he had to rub his eyes again in a vain attempt to keep active. As he did another take towards his dad, he'd noticed that he wasn't wearing his usual suit anymore; he'd gone completely casual, just like his mum. The two of them must have seen something off about him, their faces twisted in concern.

"Is everything alright, James?" His mum asked the sad look in her eyes instantly made James feel guilty. "You can tell us anything."

James forced a smile... Great, now he was hypocrite for doing exactly what they were doing. Maybe this was how the family coped. "I'm fine, just another nightmare."

"You've been having them a lot lately." His dad noted.

There was an awkward pause between them, back in the old days you could see a doctor for free, they'll give you some medicine and that'll be the end of it. But now given the state of the country medicine was in high demand, James read online that medicine was going to be rationed and because of the UFO attacks, most of their doctor's in London was told to head to Westminster to help with the burden.

It didn't matter; he seriously doubted that the doctor could help him anyway.

"Could I have some milky tea? That usually helps." He suggested.

Unfortunately, it was nothing but a bull faced lie. Yes it made him sleepy and he may even find himself nodding off, the problem was that the nightmare always ended up waking him up.

His mother took the excuse, for a moment it felt like her smile was on the brink of breaking until she managed to recover. "Of course. But you can't have any cereal today."

"I know the rules." James assured her. Getting even basic things like milk and bread was a challenge, they were being rationed also. According to the news, the whole country was drifting back into World War Two.

As mum went to prepare the tea, his dad came towards him James could tell by the look of his face that he had bad news to give him. His dad took a breath, and then began. "James, you need to know that we're going to be out a lot later than usual."

A shiver went down James' spine and bile rose to his throat; he took a hard swallow feeling a sudden tightness in his chest. "Are we in trouble?" he inquired.

"No, not at all." His dad was quick to reassure, his eyes drifted into space for a moment as he considered his next words very carefully. "Your mother and I have signed up to become volunteers in the homeless shelter; we're going to help out people less fortunate than us."

What should have been a warm gesture filled James with dread. What would happen if the aliens attacked the homeless shelter? What if they attacked here? The only weapon he could use was a baseball bat from America, he's just a kid. He seriously doubted a swing would make much of a difference if they ganged up on him.

His mum placed the tea on the table for him, along with a few pieces of toast with jam instead of butter. Not his favourite, though he'd put up with it for a month now so he could handle a year if need be. "We know that it'll mean leaving you by yourself for a long time. It's not fair and you'll be kept inside for most of the day."

Most of the day? All of the day was more like it, this sucked so hard. They may as well make him wear his school uniform and pretend this is school, because that's exactly what it feels like.

"The only thing we can offer you a holiday of your choice." His dad continued. "No if's, no but's. Once the war is over, anywhere you want to go, we'll go."

They all waited on bated breath for him to reply. By no means was this a fair deal, they had no idea how long this war would take, they're asking him to be trapped inside his own house all alone with nothing to do. Television didn't have anything, just old re-runs over and over again and the internet was getting tighter day by day; soon he may not be able to access it at all.

"Okay." He answered.

All at once his parents took turns hugging him stating how much they loved him and trusted him. James forced smiles, pretended that he was fine with this decision. It wasn't because he was tired or of the deal they had given him, truth was he did it because he loved them. What was he supposed to do? Say no and let homeless people suffer from his parents not being there? He didn't want them to see how bad these nightmares were affecting him, it would break their hearts if they only knew.

This sucked, it truly sucked. He hid his irritation by taking a sip of his milky tea.

After they went through the guidelines on what to do if something happened, his parents left, James watched them leave as he hung by the open door. Both his mum and dad looked back, the regret clear on their faces, yet they pretended to be brave and waved as they started to walk down the road. When they were out of sight, James took a heavy sigh, he closed the door behind him and it slammed just like a prison cell.

He rubbed his eyes once more. He told himself that it was just the fatigue not because his eyes were tearing up.


End file.
